Butterflies filled Ada's stomach and fluttered against her skin as she kept her eyes on the driveway, waiting for Tom. They'd been on a road trip together once, but not since admitting their feelings to one another. They'd been alone together, but not without being interrupted.

He'd made himself clear that any rules he set were still in effect until she walked across that stage and received her diploma, yet it flustered her in the best way all the same. And when she saw the cloud of dust in the distance, it all kicked into top gear.

"When you gunna be home?" her father asked as he entered the room behind her.

Ada didn't bother turning when she responded. Just watched the cloud of dust inch its way closer until a black charger came into view. "Not sure."

"Where you goin'?"

She wasn't sure of the answer to that question either, so she shrugged and watched as the Charger parked behind her sister's vehicle.

"You know, when I told you at the beginning that I wanted to know where you was and when you'd get back, that wasn't me askin'."

Ada turned as Tom stepped out of the vehicle and grabbed her purse. "It's just a getting out-of-town thing, dad."

When she looked at her dad to give him a comforting smile, Ada could sense he wasn't comforted.

He looked at her with a pinched expression and narrowed eyes as he rubbed at his overgrown beard. "When I said no dating until he got my permission, that wasn't me askin' either." Her father let out a small sigh before crossing his arms. "You make sure and let him know that he's still gotta ask."

"So you can kick him in the balls?"

"Hey," her father defended, "he's got it comin'. It's 'bout time the man learned that pushing my buttons has consequences. And I think I've been damn good 'bout this whole thing."

Ada went up to her father and gave him a big hug. She wanted him to know how much she appreciated him because he was being incredible about this.

"You've been great, dad," Ada reassured him with one last squeeze before she let him go. "And as soon as we figure out where we're going, I'll let you know."

Her father sucked in a long breath, keeping his green eyes on hers, then exhaled. "You'll also let me know when you two start headin' back."

Ada nodded. "I will. Promise."

A knock on the door grabbed both their attention. Her dad looked in the sound's direction before turning his attention back. "Don't have too much fun tonight. You best make sure he keeps it in his pants. You get me?"

His comment caused a flush to take over Ada's cheeks, and she cringed at the words. Ada hid her eyes underneath her hand as if to disappear. "Shit, dad."

When Ada heard the front door close, she moved a finger out of the way just in time to see Tom come in the room.

"What?" he asked.

Her father answered him. "I was just telling Ada that if your pecker comes out tonight, it's gettin' chopped off."

Tom stopped in his tracks and pressed his lips together. She could see him squirm, but his posture straightened. "I wouldn't worry about that. I've got rules of my own."

"First off," her father said after clearing his throat, "it's my job to worry about that. Second, somethin' tells me you've already broken a few of your own rules for her."

He wasn't wrong. Tom didn't have to say it out loud for Ada to know that he likely swore to never have a relationship with a student. He had strong morals and had stood by them until their emotions got the best of them. She also knew that he hadn't planned on kissing her until after graduation.

"I'm pretty firm on this rule." Tom's face turned a light shade of red and he looked down toward the floor. "No pun intended."

Her dad narrowed his eyes at Tom, then just shook his head. "Get the hell out of my house and bring her home at a decent hour."

Tom took a few steps backward until he was under the archway. "Okay then."

Ada gave her father a small kiss on the cheek. "Bye, dad."

After giving her father a quick nod, Tom followed Ada out of the room and out the front door, closing it behind him. "I feel like I should have kept a running tab on the times your dad's threatened my genitals."

"I wouldn't take it personally," Ada told him as she watched Tom open the passenger door for her. "He did it with Scott once or twice too. I think it just comes with the job of being a dad."

When Ada noticed that Stevie's SUV blocked the view of the house from Tom's car, she turned and stepped toward him, close enough for her lips to reach his. A sly smile crept on her face. "Hi."

Tom's lips mimicked hers and his hands snaked around her waist, pulling her against his body. "Hey."

The tips of his fingers on his free hand moved her bangs to the side, then outlined the right side of her face with the lightest touch before stopping at her chin and tipping her face upward. His fingertips then trailed to the back of her neck and he captured her mouth in the slow kiss she's been craving all day.

She moaned against his mouth and linked her finger in the belt loop of his jeans, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss.

Except Tom did as he always seemed to do. He ended it with one last small kiss, this time nibbling on her lower lip. Even before opening her eyes, she could feel his smile against her skin.

"You're trying to get me killed, woman." The tone of his voice was smooth and airy. "You and I both know that I've got to be on my best behavior with you around your parents."

Ada sighed with slight disappointment, but his words were true enough.

He pulled her closer and placed a small kiss below her ear before whispering, "So how about we get the hell out of here and find a place where I can kiss you for as long as I want?"

His voice rushed through her mind and trickled across her skin, causing her entire body to tingle. "As long as you want, huh?" Ada tried her best to act coy about it, but her smile could not be controlled or even slightly contained.

Just the thought of kissing him for more than a few stolen moments, the thought she could touch him, that he might allow himself to touch her, quickened her pulse to an almost dangerous rate.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Ada asked. She stepped out of his grasp and into the car, eager to get to wherever the hell this place was.

***********

Crossing the border from their town brought an exhale of relief to Tom's lips. They could leave the labels forced upon them behind.

Tom didn't have to be a teacher, just a man in love and in awe of the woman sitting next to him.

And Ada didn't have to be his former pupil, just a woman who became more extraordinary with each passing moment. A woman who had no clue just how far Tom had fallen.

That's what leaving their town granted them both, freedom to leave their labels behind and be the people they wanted to be to one another.

He realized that as far as their town went, people would always see them as those two labels no matter how much time passed and no matter how much they felt for one another. But at three o'clock, those labels stopped meaning what they meant before.

Tom was still a teacher, at least for another week, and Ada was still technically a student until they handed her that fake diploma. But she was no longer his student. It didn't mean as much to the people who would judge them, but it meant everything to him.

"You're not mad about the Rayna thing, are you?" Ada asked from beside him.

Ada was not referring to the showdown in the hallway, but by what took place afterward.

Halfway through the meeting with Rayna and the principal, Ada messaged him and asked him to meet her in the hallway. She decided that she didn't want to risk Rayna's wrath during the summer, or be a casualty of her gossip any longer. All she wanted was for the bad blood to end, something she didn't feel would happen if Tom kicked her out of graduation. She knew Rayna well enough to know that threats of contacting the college she'd been accepted to wouldn't stop her, but would keep her at bay if she could save face in front of her fellow peers and her family by walking across the stage on Sunday.

Tom was dumbfounded at first. Rayna more or less made Ada's life a living hell for the last four years. She'd made jabs about her weight and even after she lost it, still made her feel like an outcast. Tom didn't doubt there were many other situations that Ada hadn't told him about, but she ended up crying in his classroom enough times where even he wanted justice.

Justice was something Ada didn't appear interested in, however, and Tom had to respect that. Although it was a school matter and something he pulled rank on before, the repercussions would follow them both throughout the next few months. Tom accepted that Ada getting the revenge she was due would cause Rayna to pursue the same.

So, after talking to Frank about the various options and letting Rayna squirm in dread for a while, they came to a conclusion. Rayna could graduate with her friends and in front of her family but could not give her speech as class president.

Tom made damn sure that Rayna knew it was Ada who requested a leniency on her.

Tom reached over and grasped her hand that settled on her lap and moved it up to his lips, placing a kiss on each knuckle. "Nah, I'm not mad. Not happy about it either, but something tells me you made the right choice."

"I just figured you and I would deal with enough shit as it was without adding her to the mix."

"I get it," Tom reassured her before he entangled their fingers and placed their joined hands on his lap, steering with his left hand.

"So where's this place you talked about?" Ada asked.

Tom wasn't sure what she was talking about for a second. But once he figured it out, a small smile took over his lips. "The place where I can kiss you as long as I want to?"

"That's the one. I mean, it exists, right? Cause I'm starting to wonder."

Though it'd only been a week to the day since they first kissed, he'd been waiting to kiss her without having to hold back since she'd admitted to having feelings for him and imagined that kiss since she asked him to be her number three and even before that.

"God, I fucking hope so," he muttered before turning onto the exit to join the highway going north.

It wasn't until then that Tom realized there was a place, one he knew well but hadn't been to in at least two years. The only thing was, it was two hours away. "What do you think the chances are of Jeff being okay with you getting back tomorrow?"

"An overnight trip?" Ada asked with a light tone. "I would say there's a zero percent chance of him being okay with that."

"If there's no sex?"

As difficult as it would be to hold back with Ada if she wanted to take that step, he'd already promised Jeff and promised himself. Mostly just wanted to be alone with her again. Tom wanted to sit by a crackling fire and watch a movie as she leaned against him. He wanted to stay up late and just talk with her. And most of all, he wanted to wake up next to her in the morning and not be in any rush to get started with their day.

There was no better place for that than his family's fishing cabin.

The best part about this was that his family operated like clockwork. They spent the weekend of Easter cleaning up the grounds and getting the house ready. They turned the water back on and chopped up the firewood for the season. But they wouldn't be using the cabin until Fourth of July weekend.

While the family was welcome to use it and they all had keys, his brother only vacationed once a year. His sister lived four states away and was far more city girl than country girl.

"Chances are still slim considering he told you to get me home at a decent hour," Ada said.

Tom looked over at her and flashed a smile. "It would be a decent hour. Tomorrow."

Ada laughed from the passenger seat. "Hey, if you want to give it a shot, go for it. I think you'd have better luck than me. Somehow you get away with shit that I didn't think was possible."

Just before Tom was going to argue that comment, he realized it wasn't that far off. Sure, Jeff gave him a hard time. He also clarified that he didn't like this relationship and didn't support it. But he accepted it was happening, which was more than Tom expected. He could have beat him to a bloody pulp when he came over, and had a right to, but didn't.

All things considered, the two got along well.

Tom grabbed his phone sitting in the cup holder and did his best to keep his eyes on the road while he went through his recent calls. Not having a lot of interaction these days outside of Ada, Jeff's number appeared high on the list and he pressed 'call'.

It only rang twice before Jeff answered. "What the hell do you want? I'm in the middle of somethin'."

Though the two got along well, Tom's body still stiffened at knowing what he was about to ask.

"I was hoping to take Ada up to my parents fishing cabin a couple hours North."

Jeff let out a heavy breath followed by a long pause before he spoke. "That's makes it four hours round trip. You 'bout to ask what I think you're 'bout to ask?"

It surprised Tom that there was less of an edge to Jeff's voice than expected. Instead, he just sounded exasperated and only slightly annoyed.

"Maybe," Tom admitted. "I promise this wasn't my plan when I picked her up, but I don't know... I just got on the highway-"

"And you wanted to keep on drivin'," Jeff finished. "Yeah, I get that feelin' every now and again."

There was another long pause, longer than the last, before Jeff continued. "Same rules still apply if I say 'yes'. I also reserve the right to video call or whatever the hell It's called if I can figure that shit out."

Tom expected Jeff to be a hell of a lot more difficult about this, so any stipulations were fine with him. "I'm okay with that."

"Bet your ass you're okay with that," Jeff fired back. "Let me talk to Rebecca about this and I'll let you know."

Without saying 'goodbye', Jeff hung up on him and Tom set his phone down where it had been before. "He's going to talk to your mom about it. If all else there's a few great places to eat around there."

"You got my dad to consider that? You barely even had to try."

Tom shrugged, still confounded by how easy it was.

"My dad totally has a man crush on you."

"Fuck you," Tom muttered under his breath as he gave her hand a light squeeze.

"Tom and my dad sitting in a tree," she sang, earning her a thorough glare.

Though he knew it was an empty threat, and so would she, he said it anyhow. "I will turn this car around."

Tom's phone beeped, telling him he had a text message and he let go of Ada's hand to take a closer look.

Jeff: Rebecca wants you to know you're still on her shit list, but as long as Ada calls when you get there and calls before you guys leave, and your pants stay on, she's fine with it. It'll give her a chance to get ready for the party. And Stevie taught me how to video chat, so I'm going to do that whenever the hell I feel like it.

Tom sent him a quick text back, promising once again he'll behave, before he set his phone back down. He had no intention of behaving entirely, but accepted the terms of his pants staying on.

"So?"

Tom looked over and smiled at Ada. "Looks like you and I are going on a trip."